Gentlemen Take Polaroids is the fourth studio album by the English band Japan, released in November 1980 by Virgin Records.

It continued in the vein of their previous album Quiet Life, drawing on its elegant Euro-disco stylings coupled with more ambitious arrangements.

"Taking Islands in Africa", the title of which was taken from a line in "Swing", was a collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto, who was given a songwriting credit for the track.

Ironically the JAPAN version with a couple of embellishments and a re-recorded vocal eventually found its way onto the Sylvian compilation "Everything and Nothing" but under his name alone, rather unfairly.

It peaked at number 29 in the UK singles chart, though both the edited 7" version and the full-length 12" remix remain unreleased on CD to this day.

The third bonus track was "Taking Islands in Africa", a Steve Nye-remixed version from 1981 originally released as the B-side of the "Visions of China" 7" single.

Writing in Smash Hits magazine in November 1980, Steve Taylor gave the album a 8 out of 10 rating and said: "If Brian Eno, rather than Bryan Ferry, had rerouted the original direction of Roxy Music, this might well have been the result..."[14] However, other contemporary critics were unimpressed.

"[16] In his retrospective review, Ned Raggett of AllMusic called it "unquestionably the album in which Japan truly found its own unique voice and aesthetic approach.

"[1] Trouser Press called it an "excellent" album whose "technically exquisite and musically adventurous sound is loaded with atmosphere, yet displays a very light touch.